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Emory’s Sustainable Food Initiative

Peggy F. Barlett

February, 2018

Introduction

Emory University’s strategic planning for sustainability in 2005-6 developed a range of goals around

green buildings, energy conservation, and academic efforts, but it also included a commitment to

building a more sustainable food system for both Emory and Oxford campuses and for Emory

hospitals and clinics. With Emory’s strong healthcare facilities and educational programs, the strategic

planning committee was particularly aware of the rise in obesity in the US, the links between diet and

rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and stroke, and the negative impacts of food production on the

earth. The original strategic plan envisioned:

…A future for Emory as an educational model for healthy living, both locally and

globally—a responsive and responsible part of a life-sustaining ecosystem. …

Emory seeks to create an ethos that encourages a healthy lifestyle with choices in

transportation, food, and housing for all community members and visitors

(Sustainability Committee 2006:1).

The specific goals related to food adopted for the 2005-15 decade were to: begin a farmers market,

establish community gardens in the Emory landscape, “provide and encourage healthy food choices at

all times of day” and “procure 75% of ingredients from local or sustainably-grown sources by 2015”

(Sustainability Committee 2006:5). To develop policy and guide efforts to make the goals a reality,

President James Wagner appointed a Sustainable Food Committee in April, 2007. This broad group of

faculty, staff, and students included Emory Dining and Emory Healthcare leaders and worked to

implement these ambitious goals, as well as many other smaller projects. This history will describe the

key aspects of Emory’s sustainability work around food, from the founding of the committee until

2017.

Table of Contents

Introduction Methods Sustainable Food Committee: First Steps and Purchasing Guidelines Sustainable Food Summit and Faculty/Staff Survey: 2007-8 Emory Dining Responses Building Momentum: Farmer Liaison and Sustainable Food Educator Positions Emory Farmers Market Sustainable Food Fair Educational Garden Project Green Bean Coffee Cart Tracking Purchases Next Steps: Moving away from National Franchises and New Emory Dining Contract Emory Healthcare and Sustainable Food Innovations in Hospitals Expanding Awareness: Issues Booklet, Speaker Series and Chef Lectures Series

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Connections with Academics Consumer Choices: Catering Guidelines, Better Choice Plate, and Eat the Seasons Oxford Organic Farm New Goals, New Opportunities

Methods

This Report was begun in Spring of 2017, connected with student efforts in the course, Writing

Emory’s Sustainability History (ANT 385W). It was completed in Winter, 2018, and builds on four

reports completed in 2008:

The Sparks of Sustainable Energy: Sustainable History at Emory (Mona Patel)

Constructing a Movement, One Building at a Time: The History of Green Buildings at

Emory University (Micah Hahn)

Alternative Transportation (Andrew M. Foote)

“Going Into a Place of Beauty:” Forest Preservation and Restoration (Whitney Easton)

The 2017 class chose eight sectors of action for research and interviews, to contribute to the oral and

written history of sustainability efforts at Emory. The topics were:

Institutionalization of Change: A History of Emory’s Office of Sustainability Initiatives

(Kristen Kaufman)

Teaching the Future: Academic Infusion of Sustainability at Emory (Meggie Stewart)

Carbon, Climate and Co-Generation: A History of Emory’s Energy and Climate Commitments

(Katelyn Boisvert)

Greenspace at Emory: Finding the Balance (Orli Hendler)

Sustainability in Campus Life: The Changing of Behavior (Jamie Nadler)

Sustainable Healthcare at Emory University (Lauren Balotin)

Stormwater Management and Water Conservation at Emory University (Kelly Endres)

Emory’s History of Waste Diversion and Recycling (Amelia Howell)

The author was the chair of the Sustainable Food Committee and as Faculty Liaison to the Office of

Sustainability Initiatives, was involved in many of the activities reported here, in consultation with

Director of Sustainability, Ciannat Howett, Vice President for Finance and Administration, Michael

Mandl, and other Office of Sustainability (OSI) staff. Committee member Aimee Webb Girard chaired

the committee for one year while Barlett was on leave. This Report was based on minutes, notes,

reports, published quantitative and qualitative data, and interviews. Interviews were scheduled via

email, and in the revision process, interviewees were given the chance to review the document and

provide feedback. Interviews for this report were carried out with:

Dave Furhman, former Director of Emory Dining, May 4, 2017

Kip Hardy, Assistant Director, Food and Nutrition Services, December 21, 2017

Simona Muratore, Senior Lecturer in French and Italian, May 3, 2017

Lynne Ometer, Director of Emory Hospital Food Service, January 31, 2018

Taylor Spicer, Program Coordinator for the Office of Sustainability Initiatives, May 2, 2017

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Chad Sunstein, Acting Director of Emory Dining, May 25, 2017

Sustainable Food Committee: First Steps and the Purchasing Guidelines

The Sustainable Food Committee was Emory’s first governance structure to support the new

sustainability strategic plan goals. The committee began with six faculty (from anthropology,

chemistry, English, medicine, public health, and theology), three staff members (the Director of Emory

Dining, the Sustainability Coordinator for Sodexo, Emory University’s dining services contractee, and

the Director of Emory Hospital Food Services, ex-officio member), two graduate students (from

anthropology and public health), and one undergraduate. In subsequent years, the committee expanded

to as many as fifteen, with more dining staff, fewer faculty, and always two graduate students and two

undergraduate students.1

A commitment to increasing purchases of sustainably grown and locally grown food was the primary

goal of the Sustainable Food Initiative, and one of the first activities of the committee was to clarify

what Emory meant by “sustainable” and “local” food. The group studied how sustainability’s “triple

bottom line” of environmental, social, and economic concerns applies to food purchasing decisions,

given the particular situation of the Southeastern United States. Advice from the Dean of Agriculture

at the University of Georgia, from Yale University’s Sustainable Food Initiative, and from other

experts around the country framed the deliberations. The committee recognized that desirable

purchasing criteria would have to be balanced against cost and supply constraints, and it was also

expected that the early guidelines would be modified with experience. Attention focused mainly on

the student experience through Campus Dining at first. As a policy-recommending body, the

Sustainable Food Committee’s proposals were approved by the Director of Sustainability, the Dean of

Campus Life, and the Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration. In 2016, the

Committee recognized the desirability of a representative from Emory Healthcare to be added as a

fourth “boss” and conversations were begun, but no one has yet been named.

Sustainable food incorporates at least four dimensions, as shown in Figure 1: where food is sourced,

how it is grown, farm scale, and farm ownership. Emory sought to move food purchases toward all

four, though some were easier than others in terms of availability and price. First, as a general rule,

shorter transport distances are more desirable than long distances, and thus the guidelines prioritized

Georgia and the Southeast region over food from international sources. Second, the initiative wanted

to support farmers using more sustainable growing practices, such as reduced chemical use, enhanced

soil quality, and good working conditions and pay for workers. Third, smaller scale farm units can

contribute to a more vibrant and healthy farm economy and rural communities, and a preference was

adopted for small and medium farms over large farms. Finally, the committee recognized the

community benefits to independent farms and cooperatives and adopted a general preference for those

forms over corporate providers. Committee discussions clarified that Emory’s commitment to

sustainability includes rural economic health, civic vitality, and open space preservation. Also

important are reduction of fossil fuel use, environmental protection from harmful agricultural inputs

and practices, and preservation of biodiversity. On the social side of sustainability, safe and just

working conditions in the agricultural sector, improved human health, optimal nutrition, and new

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systems of accountability are valued. The committee’s strategy sought to balance these purchasing

criteria with cost and supply constraints.

DESIRABILITY SOURCE PRACTICES SCALE OWNERSHIP HIGHER GEORGIA SUSTAINABLE SMALL & INDEPENDENT

SE REGION ·FAIR TRADE MEDIUM FARM &

·ORGANIC COOPERATIVE

·ANIMAL WELFARE

U.S.

LOWER INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONAL LARGE

CORPORATE

Figure 1. Four dimensions of Sustainable Food (Sustainable Food Committee 2016a)

Through discussions, it was decided that reliance on third party certifications avoided having Emory

Dining personnel make judgments about individual farms and created a system of accountability that

supported fairness and transparency. The committee also debated various tradeoffs among desired

purchases, such as the relative desirability of locally-grown vegetables versus organically certified

vegetables shipped from California or Mexico. In debating health issues versus economic impact, the

committee developed a tiered set of recommendations that indicated “early steps” that might offer a

chance to make some progress toward our goals, and also other priorities, which could be chosen once

supplies were available. The guidelines were structured by various categories of food, such as eggs,

milk, and seafood, and included grocery categories of various kinds, including beverages. For

vegetables and fruits, these were the priorities adopted:

Vegetables and fruits:

Ultimate goal: Georgia grown and certified sustainable (Food Alliance) or Fair Trade (for

international products).

First priority: regionally grown

Next priority: Georgia grown

Next priority: certified organic (USDA)

Next priority: certified sustainable (Food Alliance)

Next priority: Fair Trade/improved labor conditions (for international products).

The committee studied certifications for various products (Fair Trade, Sustainable Seafood, animal

welfare) and decided collectively on which to accept and in what priority. In the case of eggs, for

instance, it was decided that US Department of Agriculture organic certification was a low priority, in

comparison with finding sources that avoid routine use of antibiotics, because of the potential harm of

antibiotic resistance to human health. While the guidelines indicated that grassfed, hormone and

antibiotic free meats were a first priority, in the beginning of the program, such supplies were not

available for pork or beef.

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An important goal of the initiative was local food. Locally-grown food is generally fresher and tastier,

and it often uses less fossil fuel for transport. It therefore lowers Emory’s contribution to greenhouse

gas emissions and to the depletion of non-renewable resources. Local and regional production

supports the regeneration of a diversified Southeastern agricultural economy, preserves open space and

agricultural landscapes, provides easier access for direct relationships with farmers, and helps preserve

the regional farming culture. The most common strategy for local food at the time the committee

began deliberations was a mileage radius. In 2007, a survey of 110 Farm-to-College programs by the

Community Food Security Coalition showed that nearly half chose 50-200 miles as their target radius

for “local” food. Another 20% chose “state-wide” and 10% chose their region. The committee

considered a common standard for local food of “a day’s drive” which is often translated as 200 miles

(400 miles round trip). For Atlanta, a 200-mile radius covers almost all of south Georgia and reaches

to Columbia (South Carolina), Asheville (North Carolina), Knoxville (Tennessee), and to Birmingham

and Montgomery (Alabama). The committee found it unreasonable to try to prioritize food from one

half of North or South Carolina or sections of other adjacent states and therefore decided to give

highest priority to Georgia farmers, with the hope of developing relationships with known producers.

As the committee became more educated about the sources of Atlanta’s food, it recognized the limits

of the Georgia growing season, and discovered that a seasonal sequence of supply began with winter

fruits and vegetables from Florida and then spread north to late summer supply from Appalachian

states such as North Carolina and Tennessee. It therefore chose a second priority to be the eight-state

region of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and

Mississippi. In addition to prioritizing local economic benefits, it was hoped that choosing a regional

focus would allow partnerships with under-served areas of the region, and support opportunities to buy

from cooperatives of minority farmers. There was also information available from the Food Alliance

organization that their certification process would soon be available to farmers in the Southeast region,

thereby boosting local supply that would count as “sustainably-produced.”

Sustainable Food Summit and Faculty/Staff Surveys: 2007-8

Emory’s Sustainable Food Committee next wanted to spread the word about the issues involved in a

commitment to sustainable food and also to bring sectors of faculty, staff, and students into decision

making. Plans were made for summits on sustainable food for students and for employees in the

spring semester of 2008. To gather student input, a two-day Summit was designed for 75-100 students

to create an opportunity to learn the issues and then recommend priorities for purchasing. The summit

subcommittee2 first created a website of relevant documents and educational materials and carried out

a short an application process for both graduate and undergraduate students. The first evening,

Thursday, February 7, offered dinner and educational presentations by local experts on organic, local,

fair trade, sustainable seafood, and livestock/meat issues. Experts included local farmers and non-profit

leaders, who sat with students and answered questions throughout the evening. The following Saturday

half-day event, February 9, was focused on decision making. Student groups of five to eight worked

through a food service simulation of nine meals and alternative purchasing choices, all within a fixed

budget. The simulation was based on actual retail prices collected from local Atlanta grocery stores,

put together with guidance from Emory Dining about different meal plan options. Each student group

debated choices and then presented recommendations to dining representatives.

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Recommendations from the student groups included the following:

Fair Trade coffee and tea: For a comparatively small increase in price, Emory could purchase

certified fair trade items to support safe and economically just working conditions for farmers

around the world.

Sustainable seafood: Given concerns about wild fisheries and ecological and health concerns of

farmed fish, delegates decided to spend significantly more to ensure that the fish purchased is

always sustainably harvested.

Locally grown: Delegates emphasized a preference for local foods, naming a range of

rationales from chemical used on food to supporting the Southeastern farm economy.

Meat and dairy products: Delegates agreed that meat, milk and eggs should be hormone and

antibiotic free based on health concerns, especially given the growth of antibiotic resistance.

Choosing milk and meat from grass fed animals was also a priority, given the new research on

health benefits of pasture-based production methods.

Organic: Organic eggs and milk were important to many groups for the human health and

environmental benefits, but groups were concerned that organic production is often carried out

on industrial, large-scale farms. Groups diverged on which organic items were more important

to purchase. Many argued that the choice should focus on the main components of each

meal—eggs and chicken, for example. Vegetables were important, in part because of equity

for vegetarian students, and dinner vegetables were given priority by some groups.

Animal Welfare: Some groups supported humanely raised certification for several products, but

overall this category received a lower priority.

Additional cost: Changes toward more sustainable foods and an increase in the prices of meal

plans was embraced by some groups, while others called for more choices in the number of

dining plans offered so that students could opt for less expensive plans with fewer meals, but

still allow progress on sustainable food goals. Alternatively, others emphasized cutting costs

through reducing waste. Overall, students were willing to sacrifice some variety and rely more

on seasonal foods to achieve some cost savings, though emphasized the importance of high

quality and taste.

Emory/Druid Hills Faculty/Staff Survey

Following the student summit, the subcommittee developed a survey that was sent to faculty and staff

at the Druid Hills campus to gauge their concerns about sustainable food and to spread knowledge

about the issues. To reach as many people as possible, the email survey was sent in March to those

employees who worked near one of the main campus food venues. Over 1100 responses were received

from a broad cross-section of staff, faculty and administrators (Subcommittee on Sustainability

Summit on Food 2008). Respondents were invited to a subsequent series of three open “consultation”

gatherings, where further advice about priorities and desired food was received.

The most important part of the survey was to gather input on what kinds of sustainability-related food

concerns were common among employees. To clarify terms, the survey offered brief statements about

aspects of sustainable food (local, organic, grassfed, sustainable seafood, etc.) and each item offered a

link to a longer description, to provide more information for those interested. Respondents were asked

to rate the importance to them of the different sustainable food concerns and alternatives on a scale of

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1 (“not important”) to 5 (“very important”). This analysis used a rating of 4 or a 5 as an indication of

significant concern.

Results showed that over 70% of employees were significantly concerned about pesticides in food,

hormone and antibiotic use in meat production, humane treatment of animals, sustainable harvesting of

seafood, desire for grassfed meat and dairy, and the reduction of waste. Open-ended comments

reflected strong feelings in many cases. One example stated, “I would dine (lunch) on campus more

frequently if there were more local and organic choices. In addition, there are currently very few

options I find healthy/appealing. ALL of the issues implicated in this survey are of great importance to

me.” The pay and working conditions of farm and food service workers received a 4 or a 5 for 69% of

respondents, and the long distance of food transport was similarly rated by 66%.

Respondents were next asked to choose five possible changes in lunchtime dining offerings of primary

importance to them from a list of 12 possible changes. Only 11% said they wanted no change, and

respondents had many different preferences for change. Three changes, however, received votes from

over 40% of respondents and can be seen therefore as the top priorities:

1. Change salad bar to locally-grown food

2. Change hot vegetable line to locally-grown food

3. Change fish and seafood to sustainably-harvested varieties

Respondents were also asked how much they were willing to pay to see the changes that they had

selected. About a quarter of the respondents said they were not willing to pay any more, a third were

willing to pay up to 20% more, and 40% would be willing to pay from 20% more to “whatever it

takes” to obtain their choices of sustainable food changes.

Three open-ended consultation sessions were then held for all who responded to the survey, and 24

people came. Key issues that emerged were a general support for local and organic food, a strong

support for Fair Trade coffee and tea, an emphasis on grassfed meats, and sustainable seafood.

Participants expressed the opinion that small, consistent changes were more valuable than big one-time

events, and a desire for clear labels to allow more informed choices was expressed in all three groups

(Subcommittee on Sustainability Summit on Food 2008).

Oxford Survey

A similar survey was administered at the Emory Oxford campus, led by Professor Stacy Bell and

student Addie Davis. Questions asked were slightly different, and respondents were mainly students;

9% were faculty and staff. Results indicated high levels of concern about humane treatment of animals,

pesticides in food, wages for farm and food service workers, and genetically modified organisms.

Desires for local food were strong, and 45% indicated a willingness to pay more for fresher, more

sustainable food.

Emory Dining Responses

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Several steps were taken by dining services on the Emory and Oxford campuses in the years

subsequent to the summit and survey. Christy Cook was hired as Sustainability Coordinator for

Sodexo (original spelled Sodexho), and when she was promoted and left Emory, her work was carried

out by Molly Walsh and then by Eric Pfannenstiel. Dining staff undertook to locate local and

sustainably-grown sources of food, and innovations in menus began in multiple locations. Almost all

coffee and tea were shifted to Fair Trade sources over the next three years. Investigations of

sustainable seafood led to a significant rise in purchases, and a new source of Alaskan wild salmon was

found. As a result of student complaints about Styrofoam, compostable to-go containers were adopted

across the board by Campus Dining in 2008 (see “Emory’s History of Waste Diversion and Recycling”

by Amelia Howell).

Overall percentages of locally-grown or sustainably-grown food began to rise. Cook estimated that for

university dining in 2006, only 1-2% of all purchases conformed to at least one of the desired

sustainability criteria—either local or sustainable. That total grew over the next eight years to a high of

26% in 2012-13. While far short of the 75% goal, this figure still put Emory among the leading

schools nationally, and Emory’s purchasing guidelines were studied and adapted by other schools and

even by a national healthcare provider.

Each year, Sodexo and Emory Dining chefs innovated in various ways to move toward purchasing

goals. Recipes were developed to utilize less expensive cuts of grassfed beef, new vegetarian and

vegan menus were created, and locally-produced bread and grassfed milk were very popular offerings.

However, innovations were inconsistent. A grassfed beef burger was offered at three locations, but its

high price deterred some buyers, and others found it was rarely available. The grassfed milk supplies

were erratic, as struggles over pricing came to the fore. Over time, the dining service utilized a range of

suppliers, with considerable change from year to year, but few long-term relationships were solidified,

undercutting the goal of providing a reliable market for sustainably-grown products. Menus for the

Sustainable Food Committee’s dinner meetings were used as a venue to experiment with vegetarian,

local, and sustainable options, and some of the items developed for those meals were later used in

catering for other events.

Considerable time and effort went into other innovations. New labels for local food and for other

categories were designed for use in cafeteria lines, but the extra effort required to verify which foods

should get the labels and to keep the labels current deterred their consistent use. A fresh vegetable

stand was tried to offer a kind of daily farmers market inside Cox Hall, but it was not profitable. New

kitchen practices during food prep were instituted to reduce water use and to reduce waste. More

recycling was introduced, especially for customers, and, later—once Georgia had a composting

company capable of processing waste—first waste from the kitchens and then later from customer

plates was composted (see “Emory’s History on Waste Diversion and Recycling” by Amelia Howell).

Because these efforts involved coordination with leadership and policies emerging from Facilities

Management and the Office of Sustainability, after a few years, the Sustainable Food Committee began

to narrow its focus to just food, and waste issues were taken up by the emerging Emory Recycles unit.

In Spring of 2010, equipment failure on the dish return conveyor at Oxford led the dining hall there to

go trayless, sparking innovations in several locations. Savings from reduced food waste at Oxford

totaled $800 a week, and these funds were reallocated to purchases of more sustainably-sourced food.

Purchases of sustainable or local food rose in 2009-10 to 24%. Food Committee members were

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encouraged by the positive results, but were also disappointed that suggestions for signage to explain

the reasons for the change and the benefits of trayless dining were not implemented. In subsequent

years, sustainable and local purchases at Oxford fell and reached only 6% in 2013-14. A trayless pilot

was initiated at Cox Hall on the Druid Hills campus in the Fall of 2010 and was successful. A pilot for

trayless dining in the multi-level Dobbs University Center (DUC) dining hall received little enthusiasm

from students despite strong educational components and was not continued.

Personnel turn-over was significant and presented both advantages and disadvantages. In the first

eight years of the Sustainable Food Initiative, there were four different dining service management

leaders and three sustainability coordinators under the same food service contract. Some newcomers

brought sustainability-related experience from previous jobs, but others were less familiar with the

goals Emory was trying to achieve and had to be oriented to past efforts and current targets and

definitions. Chef turnover also hampered consistency in ordering the more sustainable products.

By April of 2008 with the new purchasing guidelines in place, the food committee began to strategize

how to boost the sustainable food budget. The severe financial crisis later that year, however, closed

the door on many of those options. More intermediate steps were discussed in the monthly meetings,

such as menu revision toward more vegetarian meals and meat portion size reduction to allocate cost

savings to other purposes. Relations with particular vendors were explored every year.

Building Momentum: Farmer Liaison and Sustainable Food Educator Positions

It was an important step forward when two new positions were created to support the sustainable food

effort. As Emory Dining began to respond to the new goals for sustainable food, a big challenge was to

find new sources of supply that could meet quantity and quality needs, but also work within the

contractual and financial expectations of Sodexo. Sodexo representatives expressed willingness to

enter into arrangements with individual farmers, and the University of Georgia also promised to assist

in helping build cooperatives or other groupings of producers to meet specific needs.

Chaz Holt, Farmer Liaison Julie Shaffer, Sustainable Food Educator

One strategy used to promote awareness of Emory’s commitments and to find Georgia suppliers was to

create a part-time Farmer Liaison position. The Office of Sustainability, together with Campus

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Dining, contracted with Georgia Organics, a local nonprofit, to hire Chaz Holt from 2007-2009. Chaz

was an organic farmer from north Georgia, and he traveled around the state to provide information

about the Emory sustainability program to diverse agricultural groups. He offered guidance to Sodexo

on opportunities, identified new farmer partners, and helped growers access the distribution system.

The work of the farmer liaison was supported by the emergence of Destiny Produce, a small distributor

that specialized in organic products, which was willing to make pickups on small farms and bring

produce directly to Emory. Holt also became certified himself as a sustainable producer with Food

Alliance—which allowed some of his produce to be sold to Emory and count toward the initiative’s

goals—and he helped another farmer pioneer that certification in Georgia as well. Unfortunately,

financial issues led Food Alliance to withdraw from the Southeast. Guidelines for farmers who wanted

to sell to Emory Dining were developed in winter 2008, including knotty issues such as insurance

requirements and billing procedures.

Holt and Georgia Organics identified over 35 farmers around the state who were interested in

supplying Emory, but it was difficult to gain selling commitments without a willingness on Emory’s

part to make price commitments. Local Sodexo personnel indicated that they had permission from the

parent company to create such marketing agreements. Holt tried to create a formal list of needed

vegetables and rough delivery dates so that local, small farmers could expand production earmarked

for sale to Emory. Dining personnel found long-term commitments to particular farms or supplies

difficult to create. One roadblock was corporate control of menus; rotations were stipulated by the

parent company, and Emory chefs did not have many opportunities to take advantage of seasonal

availabilities. Holt also worked to establish a pilot growers group and to coordinate logistics with

Destiny Produce, but most growers in Georgia at that time were small, boutique producers, used to

retail prices from farmers markets and from high-end restaurants. Institutional, wholesale pricing was

not always attractive. Outreach through Georgia Organics’ annual conferences, the Commissioner of

Agriculture’s “Georgia Grown” campaign, and other grower meetings spread the word of Emory’s

goals, but few sales were made.

One outlet for local growers became direct sales at the Emory Farmers Market (described below).

Some vegetable suppliers became regular vendors, and others—such as strawberry and peach

producers—came in season. Another strategy that gained more traction was for Destiny Produce to

offer organic options to replace conventional products currently in use, in both Cox Hall and Dobbs

Dining. Items such local, organic yogurt, locally-made organic granola, and local milk were purchased

at some points—and organic bananas were another occasional purchase.

Sustainable Food Educator

Another important step forward in promoting awareness of sustainable food issues took place when

Emory Dining created a position for a Sustainable Food Educator in 2008. Julie Shaffer, a former

teacher and Slow Food USA leader, was hired to work with dining and the food committee in many

capacities. Shaffer helped chefs locate new food sources and innovated in menus. She developed a

series of annual food events that featured sustainable foods with an educational message. The Heritage

Harvest Feast, for instance, emerged from Shaffer’s concern about biodiversity and support of the

Heritage Livestock Breeds Association. A Kansas producer of Narragansett turkeys provided Emory

with birds for special Thanksgiving meals both for students on the meal plan and for Cox Hall as well.

Shaffer offered chocolate tastings at Valentine’s Day, as well as special cooking events such as “Green

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Eggs and Ham” night, in which students used the dining hall kitchen after hours to make omelets

featuring sustainably-produced ingredients.

Visibility for sustainable food was served by a new website and community supported agriculture

(CSA) program. Together with Sodexo marketing personnel, Shaffer built an Emory Dining website

that featured a number of aspects of the sustainable food initiative. She helped students begin a Slow

Food Emory chapter and worked with Destiny Produce to offer an organic CSA box. When that box

was not successful, she helped support regular CSA drop-offs at the Rollins School of Public Health,

thus making weekly fresh vegetables and fruits available for several dozen families at Emory by 2013.

Shaffer also took on the role of Farmers Market Manager and led the Farmers Market subcommittee.

During those early years, guidelines for vendors were established, and traditions emerged in how the

markets would be run and difficulties would be settled. Recruitment of new vendors was a constant

effort, and Shaffer’s connections with the wider Atlanta food community were invaluable. A farmers

market student intern was another innovation that helped with the work of running the weekly market.

Shaffer’s educational efforts included coordination with the Sustainable Food Fair (discussed below),

and she also developed a series of Food 101 classes for undergraduates. Food came to be more

integrated into health classes as well, and Shaffer worked with those instructors to provide cooking-

related experiences and chef demos. When the new bookstore was built on Oxford Road and space

became available in the old bookstore, Patty Erbach and Julie Shaffer worked together to create “Food

EU.” Offering a gathering locale for movies, class demos, the new Slow Food Club, and other food-

related events, Food EU gave visibility to sustainability efforts in Campus Life. After two years, the

space was reallocated to student organizations. When Shaffer retired, much of her work was carried on

by Emily Cumbie-Drake, Program Coordinator for the Office of Sustainability, and then Taylor Spicer,

who replaced Cumbie-Drake.

Emory Farmers Market

When Emory’s sustainable food work began, there was one main organic farmers market in Atlanta in

the nearby Morningside neighborhood and several smaller activities in other neighborhoods, but

expanding opportunities for direct sales from farmers was of great interest in many parts of the city.

Emory’s Farmers Market came into reality on June 10, 2008 and reflected the hard work of a

subcommittee of the Sustainable Food Committee. Led by Christa Essig, a graduate student in Public

Health, the subcommittee researched national experiences with farmers market, model regulations

from the University of Arkansas Agricultural Law Center, DeKalb County health requirements, and

the availability of sellers who were not already committed to other markets. After much debate about

locations, trash pickup, and other details, a plan for an Emory market was recommended by the

committee and authorized quickly. Rules for vendors, an application process, insurance requirements,

and arrangements for the central campus location on Cox Hall bridge were ready by spring. A logo

was designed by OSI with the help of Barry Atwood of Campus Services, and the market began with

seven vendors, four of them farmers. Various hours of operation were tried over the years, but it soon

became stabilized as a Tuesday market during the school year, from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, with

monthly markets featuring special events to keep up interest over the summer.

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Original market banner Midday at the market

The Farmers Market was developed by the Office of Sustainability Initiatives and the Sustainable Food

Committee, in collaboration with Emory Dining. After Essig graduated, Julie Shaffer managed the

market, and today Taylor Spicer of OSI is co-manager first with the Director of Emory Dining, Chad

Sunstein, and currently with Mark Seals. The market is still governed by a subcommittee of the

Sustainable Food Committee, and most years has one or more interns to help with the work.

In 2016, the Food Committee formalized a vision and mission for the market, to guide future planning

and assessment:

Vision: A lively campus community hub of flourishing locally-owned, food-based

businesses providing daily and weekly food provisioning for students, faculty, and staff. A

forum in which producers and consumers share knowledge and make informed and healthy

dietary choices toward a more sustainable food system.

Mission: Through a weekly gathering of farmers, chefs, small-scale artisanal

businesses, and Emory customers, the Emory Farmers Market fosters educational

opportunities and personal relationships through food that support economic,

social, and environmental sustainability

In 2017, Spicer and Sunstein renovated the Farmers Market Subcommittee, and with new members, it

reviewed the market in light of its overall vision and mission. A total of 28 spaces are possible on the

bridge, given foot traffic flows, and the market now has 24 slots filled. Five offer hot lunch foods, five

offer cold foods, and five offer fresh produce. Others, such as beverage and bread vendors, make up

the total. A new annual application process allows the subcommittee to rebalance the mix of vendors,

encourages conversation around sustainable food goals, and encourages some sellers to add pictures or

other educational materials to their booths. Vendors are chosen who do not directly compete with

foods offered both already in the market and inside the Cox Hall food court. Spicer and her intern have

also developed an attractive weekly farmers market e-newsletter that goes out to over 400 people,

highlighting special offerings at the market, together with relevant sustainable food education.

A major innovation at the market occurred in 2015 when EmoryCard swipes were accepted as

payment, according to Sunstein. Emory Dining purchased card readers for each vendor, and

accounting is handled by Emory’s accounting department. The automated process allows students to

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use their meal plan dollars to pay for purchases at the market, and vendors receive the income through

direct deposit. Sunstein explained:

We needed to promote the vendors we already had at that point—and enlist new

vendors. Some had been extremely loyal to us for many years, but they hadn’t seen

much increase in sales. Students say that Dooley Dollars are their primary form of

currency here—they don’t carry around cash or credit cards, normally—so it made

sense for us to try to find a way to use Dooley Dollars.

Students and staff have said that they appreciate the new variety of lunch offerings, and the use of meal

plan “swipes” has boosted vendor sales appreciably. The Emory Farmers Market serves as a gathering

place for the Emory community and offers an opportunity to connect Emory students, faculty, and staff

with local Georgia farmers and prepared food vendors. Music has been added to more market days,

and the market offers a central meeting place, a venue to eat outdoors, and a place to enjoy friends and

a break. Spicer was even told of some hospital staff who ask for Tuesday shifts so they can take

advantage of the variety and quality of lunch options and fresh food (Spicer 2017).

Vegetables for sale Burge Farm booth and vendors

Sustainable Food Fair

In the Spring of 2007, Professor Peggy Barlett created a new anthropology course called “Fast

Food/Slow Food” that introduced undergraduates to the issues of sustainable food systems and was the

incubator for the Sustainable Food Fair. The class was an outgrowth of Barlett’s work with the Atlanta

Local Food Initiative (a broad coalition of food and farming groups, convened by a grant obtained by

Emory and the University of Georgia). The Center for Science and Society under the leadership of

Arri Eisen in Biology supported the new course by sponsoring a faculty and graduate student seminar

in the preceding fall, in which eighteen participants from the Schools of Medicine, Public Health,

Theology, Literature, Anthropology, Institute for Liberal Arts, French, Chemistry, Economics,

Environmental Studies, Facilities Management, and Dining discussed recent research over seven

meetings. The group’s goal was to explore the intersections of scientific findings, medical research,

and ethical reflections. The group saw itself as contributing to the new sustainability strategic plan, and

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in addition to reaching some consensus around key issues, it developed recommendations for a

syllabus. Part of the Science and Society program was an expectation of an April campus-wide

conference, usually led by the students in the class, but Eisen suggested that a food fair would be more

fitting culmination for this course.

Poster and t-shirt design Farmer vendors—Serenbe Farms

In February of 2007, the Fast Food/Slow Food class began to plan for a Sustainable Food Fair. They

were familiar with the local Morningside Farmers Market, and desired to create a mini-version of that

direct marketing venue. Plus, they wanted to offer some fun educational activities as well. The

planning document that emerged from class discussion listed four goals:

• Foster greater awareness of sustainability issues in food.

• Expand knowledge of the pros and cons of different production systems, including issues of

environmental impact, social impact, economic costs/prices, taste, and nutrition/health issues.

• Create a lively, fun campus event as part of Earth Week.

• Provide opportunities for the Emory community to meet local farmers and other actors in the sustainable

food movement.

The class was motivated to follow the philosophy of Eric Holt-Gimenez’s campesino a campesino

(farmer to farmer) approach to alternative agriculture:

Do something. Show someone. Share concrete knowledge. Start small.

Evaluate our work. Expect and welcome resistance (Holt-Gimenez 2006:x).

The class received much financial and logistical help from Patty Ehrbach (former Director of Emory

Dining) and her staff, as well as from Ciannat Howett (Director of Sustainability) and her staff. Tables

and signage were ordered, vendors contacted, parking arranged, invitations extended, publicity

developed, and décor for the Cox Bridge location was designed. Educational tables highlighted

grassfed beef, food miles, and fair trade. With live music from student groups and free samples from

local chefs featuring their farm-to-table restaurants, the fair drew a large crowd.

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Mercier Orchards heirloom Georgia apple samples Farmer Will Harris offers grassfed beef meatball samples

The timing of the fair was a challenge, however. Late April, when farm produce begins to be available

in Georgia, is the end of the semester, and student participation—both in developing the fair and in

attendance—becomes more difficult. The first fair was held before the end of the month, but many

farmers had little to sell. It was decided to move the fair to late September, when crops were abundant.

After a second offering of the course with a fair component, Barlett decided to split the two efforts and

offer a one-credit course for students interested in learning how to put on a huge sustainability-related

event like the fair. The Fast Food/Slow Food course continued—sometimes enrolling as many as 80

students—but not always in the Fall.

Over the years, the fair came to be a treasured campus event with over forty vendors, free food samples

featuring top chefs in Atlanta, and sales of products as diverse as goat cheese, organic milk, pumpkins,

and local compost-based fertilizers. Educational tables became more sophisticated. For example,

biodiversity issues were explained together with samples of unusual Georgia apples from Mercier

Farms in north Georgia, complexities of egg carton labels were explored with a quiz, and concerns

about bee colony collapse disorder were described at a table supported by the Environmental Sciences

Department, led by Professor Berry Brosi. Emory Dining often contributed food tastes featuring local

foods—shrimp and grits one year; slaw made with local cabbage, apples, and honey, another.

Considerable interest in seasonally-available foods led to handing out the Georgia Organics seasonal

food guide, paid for with the support of the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

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Social justice issues in food Sustainability Award winners and OSI staff Costumed students enlivened the fair

As the fair grew in sophistication, students in costume highlighted key issues. The annual Office of

Sustainability Innovator Awards were presented in a noontime ceremony, and raffles and games were

developed in some years, following student interests.

In 2016, Dr. Simona Muratore, specialist in Italian culture and the Mediterranean diet, took over

leadership of the Fall Food Fair class. The thirty students in the class made active use of social media

(Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and blogs) to generate attention leading up to the fair, and prizes were

offered to students who visited the eight educational tables. Students valued the opportunity to learn

the backstage logistics of a complicated event. Financial and logistical help continued to be provided

from Emory Dining staff and Office of Sustainability staff, as well as Vialla Hartfield-Mendez,

(Director of Engaged Learning) and Pamela Scully, (former Director of the Center Faculty

Development and Excellence). Muratore commented,

This course is all about leadership. It requires the instructor to roll up her sleeves,

inspire and enthuse the students about the subject of sustainability, and follow

their lead as they plan and execute the event. It was a memorable experience for

me. Angela Jiang, my student assistant, was very resourceful, and the entire class

became a close-knit group. Students found what they learned from the class to be

meaningful to them, and said the class impact on their life would be long-lasting

because the skills they acquired will be applied in their every-day activities.

…Students reported that the attendees loved the fair and some of them wished

that [it] would be held more than once a year. Attendees were engaged in learning

from the students, and they asked many questions, and they were very interested

in learning more (Muratore 2017).

Educational Garden Project

The Educational Garden Project was started in 2007 by a Biology faculty member, Chad Brommer,

who saw an interest from students and faculty in the educational, aesthetic, and health-related benefits

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of growing food on campus. After a long process of approvals that went all the way to the Board of

Trustees, a proposal to create small gardens alongside Emory walkways was accepted. When Brommer

left Emory in 2009, the Sustainable Food Committee took on oversight of the project. Within two

years, there were seven gardens created by popular demand:

In front of the Depot

Next to the Rollins School of Public Health

Across from Cox Hall at the edge of Cox Ravine

At the Center for Science Education on Oxford Road

At the entrance to the School of Nursing

Near the cafeteria at Oxford College

At the Yerkes Primate Center.

In subsequent years, gardens were added:

Next to the Candler School of Theology

Opposite the School of Medicine Education building

Behind the fraternity houses on Eagle Row, sponsored by Greeks Go Green.

The Science Education Garden faced a loss of active staff personnel and was scaled back; the Oxford

College garden at times closed in deference to work on the Oxford Organic Farm (see below). The

School of Nursing garden was not focused on food; it featured perennial plants and herbs, teaching

about some of the natural remedies historically provided by nurses from which some of today’s

pharmaceuticals are derived. It suffered a serious setback when the garden was destroyed by

contractors during expansion of the public health building adjacent, but with considerable effort, it was

partially restored. The Yerkes Primate Center garden focuses on treats for the apes, including

marigolds and herbs. A total of nine gardens were active in 2017, and an application was submitted to

start a Clairmont campus garden.

A helpful support to the Educational Garden Project were a series of grants awarded to the Office of

Sustainability from the Georgia Department of Agriculture. Supported by the USDA Risk

Management Agency and designed to spread knowledge of Georgia’s non-traditional crops such as

vegetables, honey, and fruits, the grants supported the Garden Coordinator’s salary for several years, as

well as contributed to the funding for the Sustainable Food Fair and the sustainable food issues booklet

project (described below). The partnership with the state agency was part of a growing visibility of

Emory’s Sustainable Food Initiative.

Originally, the gardens were imagined as a student-run project, but that vision proved difficult. Student

leaders emerge, but also go abroad, shift in their interests, and almost always leave for the summer —a

critical time for many crops. Garden teams need constantly to be renewed, but there is a regular group

of about twenty to fifty people who work on the gardens in any one season, and volunteers are always

welcome. Workers get to take home the produce, though on at least one occasion, diners at the Emory

president’s home were treated to lettuce from the gardens. In season, gardens boast lovely tomatoes,

lettuces, peas, beans, greens, eggplant, broccoli, strawberries, and even cotton. In one garden a special

crop of African dry-season wheat was produced, and at several points the Native American “three

sisters garden” of corn, beans, and squash was recreated. The gardens have become islands of beauty,

education, and campus interest.

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Staffing for the gardens is different for each location, and it has always helped when staff, faculty, or a

nearby neighbor provided coordination and agricultural knowledge, to keep the garden teams strong.

Sometimes staff from adjacent buildings take on a site and inspire other workers from nearby to grow

and harvest the food. For some periods, a faculty member or OSI staff member has served as garden

coordinator. Other times, strongly-bonded groups of students maintained a garden, even through the

summer. In other eras, gardens have become weedy or neglected, and efforts to revitalize the team

have been needed.

By 2008, a part-time position was created to support the educational process of the gardens. Judith

Robertson, “gardening guru” and a former staff member from Emory College, was hired for five hours

a week through the Office of Sustainability. Later funding was supported by grants from the Georgia

Department of Agriculture. Robertson helped to coordinate deliveries of soil amendments, plant starts,

tools, and other needs and worked with Facilities Management and the garden teams to answer

questions, keep the gardens thriving, and ensure coordination of the teams. Over the first ten years,

eight individuals were hired as garden educators, most drawn from the Atlanta community. A tradition

quickly emerged of bi-annual dinners in which all teams meet to discuss plans and challenges. The

current garden educator is Lauren Ladov, and she has continued the occasional workshops on seed

starts, composting, and other topics begun by Sam Boring, the previous educator. Emory’s Campus

Kitchens student organization has currently organized regular volunteer workdays at the Cox Garden.

The gardens foster an awakening interest in urban agriculture in Atlanta. Garden work teams report

conversations with passersby from all walks of life, international backgrounds, and ages. It is not

uncommon, reported one garden worker, for parents visiting the hospital to show their children where

food comes from. Another offered a taste of fresh arugula and was rewarded with the exclamation,

“That’s the most amazing salad I ever tasted.” One garden team member overheard a visitor

exclaiming “Oh—so that’s how broccoli grows.” The gardens are viewed by thousands of people each

year, and contribute to raising interest in fresh, local food. One garden leader said, “After looking at

our blueberry bushes, one passer-by said, ‘I've never seen how blueberries grow before. My son and I

are going to plant some at our home now! Do you have any tips?’”

Candler School of Theology Garden School of Medicine Team Working on Cox Garden

By 2016, the Sustainable Food Committee clarified the vision and mission for the Educational Garden

Project:

Vision: An Emory community that appreciates good food not only on our plates,

but as an integral and familiar part of our lived environment.

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Mission: Through teams of students, faculty, staff and neighbors, the Educational

Garden Project seeks to combine knowledge of Georgia seasons and organic food

production methods to deepen connections with each other and with the

meaningful and joyful work of turning seeds into food.

Green Bean Coffee Cart

In Spring of 2007, Emory College students Addie Davis and Sally Mengel were motivated by a project

in an anthropology class taught by Professor Scott Lacy to develop a Fair Trade coffee cart to serve as

an ethical alternative for coffee consumption on campus. Receiving an OSI Incentives Fund grant in

Fall, 2007, to purchase the cart, the students worked with Emory Dining to find an appropriate location

with a special electrical outlet and to recruit and train student employees. The cart offered unique

leadership opportunities in which students became part of a business start-up, growth, and maturation,

one that sought to educate as well as operate by socially responsible principles.

Green Bean original logo Cox Hall Location, Fall 2015

The Green Bean began in January, 2008 under the overhang of the DUC. Emory Dining certified

the cart’s adherence to food safety guidelines, and the cart used the DUC faculty dining kitchen

facilities for cleaning and storage. Emory Dining provided a financial accounting structure, since

this was the first student-run business on campus. Green Bean managers were required to

purchase their products through dining personnel but still maintained some administrative

independence. Employees and managers worked together to make decisions, such as adding iced

coffee, changing the cart’s hours, and even deciding the color of employees’ T-shirts.

Choosing which coffee to serve was a primary concern, but other sourcing decisions were

complex as well. The cart opened with Direct Trade coffee from Counter Culture Coffee, and

the company provided support, training, and equipment for the first few years. Another goal was

to offer a range of organic pastries from local bakeries, but because of obligations within Emory

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Dining, this practice was not permitted. The cart’s managers worked with Sodexo bakers to sell

pastries made in-house, and sometimes these were all-organic in ingredients, fulfilling the

original concept. Student managers worked hard to find mutually supportive relationships with

the Sodexo employees who ordered supplies and baked pastries and also to find common ground

with dining management, despite their different philosophies.

In Spring 2009, the Green Bean cart moved to the overhang next to Cannon Chapel and then

accepted Dooley Dollars the following Fall. The cart was the only source of coffee between Cox

and White Hall, and sales increased steadily. Logistics were easier because the nearby chapel

kitchen was convenient, and the Green Bean became a beloved campus institution. Green Bean

staff expanded community outreach, catered events, created a welcoming space below the

overhang with improved seating and art, co-hosted events with like-minded organizations, and

conducted several marketing campaigns.

In 2009-10, the Green Bean switched to serving Fair Trade coffee from Café Campesino to be

more in line with the university’s sustainability commitments. Café Campesino, located in

Americus, Georgia, was the first Fair Trade organic coffee roaster in Georgia and was built on

long-term relationships with individual democratically-run co-operatives of coffee growers

throughout the world. The Fair Trade label offers a third-party certification that guarantees more

coffee profits go into the pockets of farmers than with conventional coffee. Fair Trade also

supports environmental standards and community development projects in each locale. The

Green Bean also sourced other products such as milk and sugar as much as possible from local or

organic sources.

Financial difficulties came and went, and accounting challenges stemmed in part from the joint

ordering of supplies and proprietary information from Campus Dining. At times, it was possible

to calculate profits only on sales of beverages, not on all sales including pastries. In some years,

however, the Green Bean made a profit, especially with the addition of locally-made granola and

yogurt.

With the opening of the new Common Grounds café in Cannon Chapel, the Green Bean was in

direct competition for coffee sales. In addition, cold winter temperatures presented challenges—

the water pump froze and coffee brewing was sometimes slow. Planned construction on the new

Theology building next door threatened pedestrian access to the Green Bean site, and the cart

itself was showing wear and needed repair.

The new Emory Dining director, Dave Furhman, proposed moving the Green Bean to space

inside the Cox Hall food court. A permanent, indoor site could stay open longer each day, and

the maintenance of equipment, ordering of supplies, and increased sales would all be a plus for

that location. Student and university leadership decided the new location was a good

opportunity. Student employees were happy not to have to stand outside in the cold, and clean-

up and resupply of milk, cream, and other products was more easily managed indoors. A glass

display case and a larger counter allowed menu options to expand. In the years in Cox Hall,

there have been some transition on specific products offered, but the Green Bean generally sells

organic local milk, organic sugar, stevia, and Teavana tea.

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The transition to Cox Hall presented challenges as well; Green Bean employees were

incorporated more fully into the Sodexo employee system, which eroded the Green Bean’s

original commitment to living wages for employees and the manager. But over time, with a

successful campaign for a wage increase, new accounting systems, and improved relationships

between management and Emory Dining, the Green Bean generated a profit, and employees

have shown new enthusiasm to focus on sustainability outreach.

With the new dining contract with Bon Appétit food service, the Green Bean’s hours were

expanded and new pastry options added. The Green Bean supported documentary showings,

such as the movie Black Gold, and provided coffee and baked goods at the viewings. With the

two-year closing of Kaldi’s coffee shop during the construction of the new Campus Life Center,

in Fall of 2017, Kaldi’s corporation took over management of the Green Bean, but students

continue to be employees. Coffee sold is now Kaldi’s own brand, and other Kaldi’s products are

available. The Green Bean continues to demonstrate stronger sales and profits, and Kaldi’s

donated a percentage of coffee sales to the programs of the Office of Sustainability. Past Green

Bean managers—all Emory College students—have pursued a range of subsequent careers, from

ice cream purveyor to physician.3

Tracking Purchases

One of the most challenging parts of the sustainable food effort is to verify progress in offering

“sustainable or local” food. At the time Emory began this effort, some schools listed farmer suppliers

or lists of commitments on their websites, but publically-available measurements of food purchases

and progress toward goals were rarely seen. As Emory worked with tracking challenges, the reasons

why emerged:

Heavy staff time demands. Sodexo’s sustainability coordinator, Christy Cook, spent a

significant portion of her time entering figures from individual invoices into a spreadsheet.

Since just one large distributor can provide over 100,000 distinct product codes (SKUs) with

deliveries to a single campus, the task of categorization and entry is burdensome.

Demands are also made of suppliers. As Emory began to track locally-grown purchases, it

requested that its produce distributor, Sysco, report the geographical origin for vegetables and

fruits. This change required the corporation to redo its computer system and took them six

months to accomplish. Sysco found to its surprise that sometimes onions or other products were

available in the warehouse from both Florida and California simultaneously, and they were able

to fill Emory’s order with the more local product.

Some aspects of food purchases were confidential to the Sodexo organization, some to Emory

Dining, and creating a workable system of review by the Sustainable Food Committee took

time.

In addition, discovering whether a particular product met Emory’s criteria for local or

sustainable was not always easy. One food service operator admitted, “It’s hard to parse the

certifications. We all fall prey to the salesmen of the certifications” (Barlett 2017).

Emory Healthcare was organized very differently from Emory University’s food service, with

distinct distributors, profit mandates, and culinary requirements, especially for patients.

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Personnel were not available for most of the years of the initiative to track purchases for Emory

Healthcare.

By 2009, some tracking conventions began to be established. Resident dining (student meal plan)

purchases for the main dining hall were tracked, and likewise, tracking procedures for purchases for

foods provided at other satellite locations were developed. Retail dining, such as the Cox Hall food

court, included purchases for franchises (such as Chick-Fil-A, Starbucks, Einstein’s, and Dunkin

Donuts), some of which were stipulated by the franchise. Most of these purchases were paid through

the Sodexo system, however, and were added to the total tracked. Likewise, some independent food

operations (such as Emory’s Carlos Museum café, Caffé Antico) were included, but others could not

be, such as the Emory Clinic coffee shop. Tracking for Emory Healthcare included cafeterias and retail

dining for Emory Hospital employees, visitors, and patients, as well as purchases for patient food

services. Franchises, independent operations, and vending machines were not tracked for Emory

Healthcare.

Table 1 shows seven years of tracking, though numbers are not strictly comparable since accounting

methods have changed at several points. The total purchases of sustainable and/or local food varied

between 20-38% for Emory Dining and between 6-55% for Oxford Dining. Emory Hospital dining

measured its purchases toward the goals between 5-11%. Tracking became much more detailed in

2013-14, when Emory Dining contracted with an outside firm to develop a computerized system based

on SKU codes. A challenge for the firm, however, was that quite a number of suppliers were unable to

guarantee the origins of produce or products, illustrating the lack of transparency in the globalized food

system.

Table 1. Emory Sustainable Food Purchases Tracking, as of 10-16-17.

Percentage of purchases either locally grown or sustainably grown for academic years: 2009-10

through 2016-17 (fiscal years 2010-17); no data for FY15 a

. 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2015-16 2016-17 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY16 FY17

1. Emory Dining d.

Milk and dairy 38.6 37.3 32.5 Meat & poultry 73.0 67.7 Eggs 0.3 0.2 84.5 Produce 33.0 35.8 Vegetables, fruits 12.0 19.4 13.6 Dairy & eggs 44.4 35.0 Poultry 99.5 80.2 86.0 Seafood 90.4 87.2 Beef 7.3 8.1 3.1 Bakery 0.0 0.0 Pork & other meats 6.0 13.3 1.4 Grocery 2.9 3.0 Seafood 26.8 16.3 70.0 Coffee & tea 73.8 79.8 Grocery 13.7 15.4 8.7 TOTAL 29.9 29.3 24.1 25.6 21.3 TOTAL 37.8 35.4

2. Oxford Dining.

Milk and Dairy 18.4 17.2 40.4 Meat & poultry 87.3 74.2 Eggs 0.6 0 11.6 Produce 51.2 51.3 Vegetables, fruits 9.3 9.6 14.9 Dairy & eggs 55.6 40.2 Poultry 100.0 100.0 79.6 Seafood 92.8 98.7 Beef 0 0 0 Bakery 0 0

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Pork & other meats 0 0 0 Grocery 4.5 3.2 Seafood 24.5 7.0 71.8 Coffee & tea 84.9 90.7 Grocery 5.5 7.9 5.8 TOTAL 24.0 22.1 15.0 17.2 6.3 TOTAL 54.8 46.4

3. Emory Hospital

Food Service b.

5.0 8.0 No data No data No data 10.7 10.0

Numbers are not strictly comparable across years because both tracking systems and purchasing criteria have evolved.

Baseline purchases in 2007-9 are estimated to be a total of 1-2% local or sustainably-certified purchases.

a. Tracking for Emory Dining includes resident dining (meal plan), Dobbs Dining Hall, the DUC-ling, other satellite

locations, and retail dining, such as Cox Hall. It includes purchases for franchises (such as Starbucks and Dunkin

Donuts) and independent operations (such as Caffé Antico); it includes both items stipulated by the franchise and items

not stipulated. Purchases by subcontracted vendors (Bojanic, Highland Bakery, Kaldi’s Coffee, Mama Tiger, Maru,

Twisted Taco, and food trucks) were not tracked. Purchases by branded retail outlets (Starbucks, Freshens, and Peet’s

Coffee) were operated by Bon Appétit and were not included in the Emory Dining data.

b. Tracking for Emory Healthcare includes patient meals, retail dining areas, and catering for Emory University

Hospital, Emory University Hospital Midtown, Emory Orthopaedic and Spine Hospital, Emory Wesley Woods

Hospital, Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital and Emory Johns Creek Hospital. These areas provide food for patients,

employees, and visitors. Excluded are vending machines, Budd Terrace Nursing Home and Mocha Delites (outside

contract with the Emory Clinic).

It is notable that some of the recommendations of the original Sustainable Food Summit and surveys

were enacted and are visible in the table. By 2013-14, though overall grocery purchases were low

(9%), Fair Trade coffee and tea were common on campus (except at the local Starbucks franchise).

Seafood was largely in conformity with sustainable guidelines, and chicken was provided by a more

sustainable grower. Local vegetables, however, were less in line with campus preferences, due partly

to supply and price constraints and partly to food service space and operational constraints.

The Sustainable Food Committee also continued to work with Emory Dining to adjust the purchasing

guidelines and definitions to keep up with changes in supply and with changes in research. Revisions

to the purchasing guidelines removed locally-produced non-dairy beverages and sodas as well as

bottled water from tracking totals. With growing experience, it was decided that most grocery items

were too complex to categorize as local or sustainable, and goals for grocery items were simplified

(Sustainable Food Committee 2011, 2013).

Next Steps: Moving away from National Franchises and New Emory Dining Contract

In 2013, Dave Furhman began as the new director of Emory Dining and began listening to all the

diverse sectors of the Emory community:

I learned that the community here is proud of the university, and it had a sense of

place—that this is a unique place. But then when I looked at the food court, I saw

that it was filled with national fast food brands—it could have been anywhere—

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[the brands] weren’t unique to this place. And they didn’t meet our sustainability

standards. I wanted the food court to reflect our values. I saw an opportunity to

provide economic inclusion for small, local and regional, businesses in the

Atlanta area. And, really, it was all triggered by the Farmers Market—we were

proud of that effort, showcasing local producers (Furhman 2017).

Popular Atlanta restaurants were invited to develop retail stations in the food court, alongside several

Emory Dining stations, and revenues rose markedly. As local businesses settled into the locale, it also

created an opportunity to encourage them to conform to Emory’s sustainable food purchasing

guidelines. Students welcomed the healthier choices available, and more vegetarian and vegan options

were provided as well. In terms of tracking, however, these independent businesses were not required

to report their purchases, and thus a number of retail outlets fell out of the tracking totals. Emory also

began to welcome food trucks on campus at certain times and locations, and their purchases were also

not included.

A “Meatless Monday” campaign was initiated in 2014, to encourage more students to choose

vegetarian options. Meat options continued to be provided, but there was little student enthusiasm, and

the program was dropped after a year.

New Dining Contract

In 2014, as Emory’s food service contract came up for rebid, Emory Dining in consultation with the

Sustainable Food Committee specified several certified products in the request for proposals for

residential dining, non-branded retail, and catering.4 Most notable was the requirement that all ground

beef on campus be grass-fed. In addition, humane certification was a requirement for eggs, and

antibiotic use in the production of chicken was prohibited, except for treatment of disease. Monterey

Bay Aquarium’s good and best seafood or Marine Stewardship Council certification was required for

all fish and seafood purchases. According to Furhman, “The qualitative RFP [request for proposals]

was highly unusual and raised eyebrows among some bidders. We were looking for a partner able to

understand, meet, and deliver the standards we put forward, whose culture and ethos was fully

consistent with ours” (Furhman 2017).

The contract was awarded to Bon Appétit Management Company in 2015, and in addition to required

items, the purchasing strategy expanded in the first two years to include twenty relationships with local

farmers. Emory Dining’s purchases of either sustainably-grown or locally-grown food reached 38% in

2015-16, for a total of over $2 million in purchases. Oxford Dining, using some hyper-local food from

the Oxford Organic Farm as well as other local and sustainable sources, reached 55% in fiscal year

2016 (see Table 1).

Other innovations continued. Farmers Market vendors were delighted to learn that Bon Appétit

committed to buy any surplus produce left after the market finished each Tuesday. Big changes were

noted by students and staff as Bon Appétit brought its corporate philosophy of scratch cooking and the

use of fresh foods to various campus locales. Not only did ingredients and recipes change, but kosher,

halal, vegetarian, and vegan foods were normalized in placement in student dining. Gluten-free

options began to be both offered and regularly labelled in retail, and the grab-and-go convenience store

offered a radically different array of healthier choices, including some organic options. A grassfed

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burger and sweet potato fries were offered daily in the food court and weekly in student dining. In

alliance with the Healthy Emory program in Human Resources, a labeled “Better Choice” meal of one

entree and one side were made available in retail locations in both Emory Dining and Emory

Healthcare.

Revised Purchasing Guidelines

As a result of the shift to Bon Appétit, and the leadership of that parent corporation in a number of

areas of sustainable food, several major revisions in purchasing guidelines were made by the

Sustainable Food Committee in 2015-17. First, a new category of grocery products—Bon Appétit’s

“locally crafted”—was adopted as counting toward the sustainably-produced totals. This certification

includes artisan products from small, locally-owned businesses who practices align with aspects of

Emory’s sustainability goals. Some preferences in earlier purchasing guidelines were eliminated, since

they were superseded by corporate policies or new contract requirements. Extensive research led to

revised preferences for fisheries, fair trade, and animal welfare certification, and after much

consultation, the committee extended the prohibition in meat production on the use of routine

administration of antibiotics used for human health to ionophore antimicrobials (Sustainable Food

Committee 2016).

In 2016-7, the percent of sustainable/local purchases by Emory Dining went down, partly because of

the new, stricter guidelines, partly from difficulties in obtaining supplies, and partly from personnel

turnover. Purchases by branded retail outlets (Starbucks, Freshens, and Peet’s Coffee) operated by

Bon Appétit were not included in the Emory Dining tracked data (see footnotes to Table 1).

The committee continued to find accurate and fair metrics to be a challenging task; there are

considerable costs to keeping up with scientific opinion on fisheries health, glyphosate risks, or

ionophore antimicrobials. The value of having faculty and student researchers on the food committee

to study issues has been shown repeatedly, but dining staff are now also very knowledgeable about

sustainable food issues and have led the committee to consider many important changes.

Emory Healthcare and Sustainable Food Innovations in Hospitals

Movement in Emory Healthcare toward sustainable food goals strengthened in 2009, when Kip Hardy,

Assistant Director of Food and Nutrition Services at Emory University Hospital, was hired and joined

Lynne Ometer, Director of Food and Nutrition Services at Emory Healthcare, who had been serving on

the Sustainable Food Committee from the beginning. Efforts focused first on Emory University

Hospital, where Executive Chef Michael Bacha was innovative in exploring changes toward

sustainability. Attention was paid specifically to sources of meat and local produce, and local and/or

organic dairy and local bakery items were introduced to retail dining in hospitals in 2010, as well as

more vegetable and salad bar options (Sustainable Food Committee minutes). For Ometer, Hardy, and

Bacha, sustainability goals were part of a larger desire to move toward healthier menu options,

especially in the staff cafeterias. Menu innovations included a surprisingly popular shift from fried

chicken to a baked recipe, and over time, a reduction in general in fried foods. In some years, several

of the hospitals sourced chicken from Springer Mountain Farms, the supplier required by Emory

26

Dining, but due to changes in mandated portion size that the company was not able to meet, purchases

were shifted elsewhere. Some healthcare cafeterias made grassfed beef and local, organic yogurt

available at times. A partnership with Destiny Organics, certified organic food distributor, enabled

Emory Healthcare to obtain foods in adequate quantities, and such products as local juices and organic

granola became available in the cafeterias, where prices could be set appropriately (Balotin 2017:26).

In 2010, Hardy was part of a growing group of dieticians involved in the national nonprofit, Healthcare

without Harm, and Ometer and Hardy together decided include Emory as a signatory to that

organization’s Healthy Food in Healthcare Pledge (Heathcare without Harm 2017).

The Pledge is for fresh, local, and sustainable food, and demonstrates a

commitment to treating food’s production and distribution as preventive medicine

that protects the health of patients, staff, and communities. The Pledge includes a

promise to minimize waste, educate the community about sustainable food,

encourage vendors to supply food produced without pesticides, antibiotics or

hormones, and use sustainable forms of agriculture. It additionally requires that

signatories report annually on the implementation of the Pledge (Balotin 2017:25-

26).

Ometer and Hardy knew that the tracking and reporting goals of the pledge were not feasible, given

staff constraints, but supporting the pledge coordinated with a national effort to include more hospitals

in the work of Healthcare without Harm. The pledge was also supported by the new Sustainability in

Health Sciences Taskforce, which encouraged innovations in many areas of patient care, waste, and

energy, as well as food.

Changes in healthcare food are harder than for university dining, explained Ometer, because of the

need to balance special dietary requirements for patients, basic nutritional standards, patient and

employee preferences, and portion control, as well as sustainable sourcing. A bigger barrier is cost; as

healthcare reimbursements have declined nation-wide, the system “is always squeezed, every year.”

When the sustainable food goals were first introduced, hospital administrators “thought it was a pipe

dream,” because of cost estimates, but over time “attitudes have changed,” said Ometer—“the world

has changed.”

The reorganization of the food service in Emory Hospitals in 2012 made possible renewed progress

toward sustainable food goals. Each of the six main hospitals shifted to independent administration of

their food services and then discontinued many pre-prepared meals in favor of patient room service.

Hardy clarified:

Previously, the hospital had used a cycle menu for patients. Food would be

cooked, chilled, and stored on carts that reheated or cooled right before meals. All

of the patients in a unit ordered the food several meals in advance and received

their food at a specified time. Following the shift to room service, patients were

able to call the dining system and receive food made to order. The menu offers a

higher variety of options on a single day, but has fewer options long-term because

the menu remains the same. This provided the hospital with more volume buying

power to buy foods for a month rather than for a single day. It also decreased

27

waste because pre-made trays were not thrown out when patients did not want

them. This saved money, which, in turn, allowed the hospital to afford higher

quality items. Emory Healthcare systematically used this strategy of saving costs

in one area to better invest into sustainable foods. The switch from a name brand

to a generic brand of [breakfast] cereal saved $8,000 in a single year, allowing

Emory University Hospital to invest the savings into grass-fed beef in a cost-

neutral endeavor (Balotin 2017:26-27).

Emory’s six hospitals saw an increase in sustainable or local purchases, from 8% in fiscal year 2011 to

11% in 2016 and almost 10% in 2017 (see Table 2). The total was probably somewhat higher because

personnel were not available to track all purchases. The 10-11% figures were obtained by tracking key

items that met the criteria, and then dividing by the total food expenditures. Emory University Hospital

saw the strongest progress, with a percentage in the 2016 fiscal year of 16%.

Table 2. Percent Purchases of either Local or Sustainable Foods at Six Emory Hospitals, fiscal

years 2016-17.

Hospital FY 2016 FY 2017

Emory University Hospital 16.01 14.69

Emory University Hospital Midtown 9.78 9.20

Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital 5.96 5.50

Emory Johns Creek Hospital 8.96 6.13

Emory Orthopedic and Spine Hospital 6.09 7.37

Emory Wesley Woods Hospital 6.30 6.53

Emory Healthcare Average 10.73 9.99

Emory Healthcare’s recent progress has also benefited from Atlanta’s first commercial local food

hub—the Common Market—a nonprofit distributor that bulks produce from area farmers. Ometer

notes that the lettuce, sweet potatoes, and other vegetable products available from local growers have

been high quality and appealing to dining managers and have made possible some of the purchasing

increase. Emory was also instrumental in bringing more sustainable food suppliers into the large food

distribution companies, like U.S. Foods, which allowed further purchases from area hospitals.

A very popular innovation occurred in 2011 when Hardy and Bacha experimented with vegetable and

herb production in areas around Emory Hospital. By 2014, with the support of the Educational Garden

Project and the leadership of David Horning, Assistant Director of Food and Nutrition Services at

Emory University Hospital, a quarter acre garden was planted at the Orthopaedics and Spine Center to

provide fruits and vegetables directly to patients for their meals. In 2016, over 400 pounds of tomatoes

were harvested through these plots of land (see Sustainable Healthcare at Emory University report by

Lauren Balotin). Hardy described how patients remember things like homegrown tomatoes; “There’s

meaning behind it” (Balotin 2017).

Hardy and Bacha have focused educational efforts on Emory Hospital bedside staff and cooks,

according to Hardy, helping them understand the benefits of grassfed beef and other goals. A special

“pastured poultry week” and Thanksgiving turkey from White Oak Pastures for patient trays help

28

expand awareness. Another step forward has been the opening of the food court in Emory Hospital’s

Clifton Tower. During its planning, Ometer argued for having this kitchen be “a laboratory for

sustainable foods, a springboard for the rest of the system.” Menu experiments with attention to local,

fresh food continue at present, and early reports on food quality are very favorable. The new tower also

offers new opportunities for growing fresh herbs and possibly vegetables on the roof.

Expanding Awareness: Issues Booklet, Speaker Series and Chef Lectures Series

“Eating Sustainably” Issues Booklet In 2009-10, the Sustainable Food Committee undertook to create a series of short information sheets

(two to five pages) about many aspects of sustainable food: eating locally, food labels, nutritional

content of sustainable food, grassfed meats, GMOs, and other issues of interest. The sheets were

written by individual committee members, with research and input from the whole committee.

Requested by Emory Dining personnel to support educational efforts undertaken by the marketing arm

of Sodexo on campus, the info sheets were also imagined to be useful as a resource for teaching, events

on campus, and dining hall posters.

EATING SUSTAINABLY: an introduction to food 1. Defining sustainability and sustainable food

2. Food, foodshed, soil, and place

3. Identifying sustainable food: an introduction to marketing terms

4. Health benefits of eating sustainably

5. Nutrient content and sustainable food

29

6. Pesticides and organic foods

7. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)

8. Food choices and environmental impact: meat and plant-based diets

9. Energy and food production

10. Animal welfare and factory farms

11. Grass-fed livestock

12. Sustainable seafood

13. Choosing local food

14. Sustainable food purchasing and the Georgia economy

15. Impact on farm workers

16. Fair Trade

The first fourteen sheets were completed in 2010, and two more in 2011. Their costs were supported

by the Office of Sustainability Initiatives, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, and Emory Dining.

Booklets were distributed in hard copy to key stakeholders, and in addition copies were placed in

several Emory Clinic and university administration waiting areas. The booklet was made available

electronically to the general public on the sustainability website, and the committee was delighted to

learn that in the early days of the Georgia Food Policy Council, the booklet was adopted as a useful

guide to sustainable food issues. With the establishment of the Healthy Emory program in the Human

Resources division, the Sustainability Office, Emory Dining, and Healthy Emory re-released the

booklet in 2015 and made it available in new venues.

Sustainable Food Speakers Series and Chef Lecture Series

Emory was fortunate to welcome author Barbara Kingsolver in September, 2007, the first of a series of

sustainable food speakers that included also Carlo Petrini, founder of the international Slow Food

movement, California restauranteur and sustainable food pioneer, Alice Waters; British animal rights

advocate and Compassion in World Farming leader, Philip Lembery, and others. The Barbara

Kingsolver event highlighted her new book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and Kingsolver and her

husband, Steven Hopp, shared tales of a year of eating from within a fifty-mile radius, challenges of

life on their family farm, and their daughter’s efforts to raise heritage breed bourbon red turkeys. The

sold-out crowd in the Glenn Church auditorium was enthusiastic, and an Emory security official

exclaimed, “You guys are rock stars!” It was a celebratory kickoff for Emory’s sustainable food

efforts.

In addition to distinguished speakers, in Spring, 2009, the Sustainable Food Initiative undertook a chef

lecture series, bringing to Cox Hall auditorium three chefs from Atlanta’s well-known restaurants:

Scott Peacock, Linton Hopkins, and Anne Quatrano. Open to the public and attended by 45-88 people,

the series was designed as a fund-raiser, but generated only a small income, despite the generosity of

the chef participants. Featured were southern biscuits, preserved vegetables, and charcuterie. Students

assisted each of the chefs in providing samples for the audience, a special opportunity for students who

loved cooking.

30

Barbara Kingsolver poster Carlo Petrini interacting with students during his talk

Other fund-raising efforts undertaken in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis were a cooking class

series with the Chef’s Warehouse and a benefit dinner with Floataway Café. The series spread

sustainable food issues to new constituencies, but required considerable Emory staff time for

promotion and logistics.

Chef Anne Quatrano with samples from her Chef lecture series poster

restaurants, Floataway Café and Baccanalia

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Alice Waters, strong supporter of the Yale University Sustainable Food Initiative, showed interest in Emory’s

program and gave advice to key administrators during two visits to campus.

Connections with Academics

At many points throughout its first ten years, the Sustainable Food Initiative connected with classes,

speakers, conferences, and student research. Regular courses related to food security, agriculture, and

health were offered by Professor Amy Webb-Girard in public health, in history by Professor Tom

Rogers, in anthropology by Professors Craig Hadley and Peggy Barlett, in theology by Professors

Carol Newsom and Jennifer Ayres and in the Center for Ethics by Professor Jonathan Crane, as well as

by a number of temporary faculty. Emerging from graduate student interests and led by Sarah Franzen

from the ILA, a Food Justice conference in 2010 drew together Atlanta area farmers and food justice

advocates to make presentations together with students. The conference was repeated two years later,

led by graduate students in public health, through a class taught by Girard. In February, 2013, Girard,

Barlett, and Mindy Goldstein, Director of the Turner Environmental Law Clinic, convened the first

formal gathering of faculty and students interested in Food Studies. In addition to courses already in

place, several faculty from languages and literatures departments indicated that including garden visits,

cooking demonstrations, and food/health issues could enhance language learning and cultural

appreciation. Several lunch sessions were organized to explore existing research over the following

year to explore social science, natural science, humanities and health dimensions of food.

To pursue the possibility of an undergraduate program or a graduate certificate in Food Studies,

Girard, Goldstein, and Barlett applied for and received a grant from the Center for Faculty

Development and Excellence that supported an academic learning community in the Fall of 2014. Over

a dozen faculty and graduate students attended a semester of presentations from diverse academic

fields about the nature of food studies. While discussions were lively, interests were also very broad,

and no coherent focus for food studies emerged from those dialogues. Building on several years of a

broad interdisciplinary course on “Eating Ethics,” Professor Jonathan Crane in the Center for Ethics is

leading efforts to build academic momentum around food studies and ethics. Several undergraduate

students have crafted independent food studies majors through the Interdisciplinary Studies Program.

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Another food studies dialogue emerged from the intersection of academics and the sustainable food

guidelines developed with Emory Dining. Nationally, new metrics were emerging to measure progress

toward sustainable food goals, and there was debate over the usefulness of different approaches.

Dining Director Dave Furhman and Peggy Barlett joined with other Emory folks to organize two

national e-conference conversations around standardization of metrics in 2013. Food system

researchers, sustainability directors, food service managers, and interested graduate students and staff

were invited to “attend” from over a dozen institutions. The conversations revealed that many

important scientific issues remain unsettled by research. Also revealed were divergent institutional

missions and mandates around sustainable food, representing diverse geographies, public/private

status, and food service staff skills. Developing a national consensus on appropriate metrics to unify

campus efforts proved elusive. Barlett, Furhman and others presented the findings at the Association

for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education conference in 2014, and an analysis of

alternative strategies for campus sustainable food projects was later published (Barlett 2017).

Consumer Choices: Catering Guidelines, Better Choice Plate, and Eat the Seasons

Early efforts of the Sustainable Food Committee focused on shifting supplies of food toward more

sustainable and local sources, but it was always recognized that consumer choices are an important

driving force in making the initiative not only viable but popular. The food committee undertook

several efforts to spread knowledge of sustainable food issues into more parts of the Emory

community.

Every year, many meals are provided to staff, faculty, administrators, and students in special events,

whose budgets are outside the Emory Dining control. Catering decisions for such events are normally

made by individual staff persons, who may not always take into account sustainable food goals—or

healthy eating goals. The food committee developed a simple flyer, “Catering Guidelines for

Sustainable Food.” Offering tips on foods to choose for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and advice about

how to avoid waste, the four-page flyer was distributed widely to employees throughout the university.

33

Nutritional Labelling and the Better Choice Plate

Another project of the food committee emerged from requests from the faculty/staff survey—the desire

for nutritional labels to guide consumers as to protein, fat, salt, and other nutritional information at the

point of purchase. A subcommittee studied practices at other schools and recommendations from the

American Dietetic Association, and in 2008 their report suggested the creation of an “Eagle Approved”

meal of the day. Marked with some kind of logo, the Eagle Approved meal would provide a balanced

meal of recommended nutrients to diners who may not want to assemble such a meal themselves. The

nutrients of each meal component might be identified at point-of-purchase or available from a

computer kiosk nearby. There was some experimentation with this idea, but staffing constraints

intervened.

Subsequently, when the Healthy Emory Program was established within Human Resources, Michael

Staufacker was hired as the director, and he also became a member of the Sustainable Food

Committee. A new program in collaboration with Emory Healthcare, Bon Appétit, and Emory

University offers a “better choice” label on selected entrees and side items at campus dining facilities.

“One of the four Healthy Emory cornerstones is creating an environment that makes it easier for

people to achieve their health goals,” said Michael Staufacker. “That includes factors such as plate size

and making sure the healthier choices are within reach. The Better Choice label helps reduce some of

the barriers for people trying to make healthy choices, by providing a visual shortcut…” based on

calories, saturated fats, sodium, fiber and protein content, and added sugars (Fernandez 2016).

Eat the Seasons Campaign

Within the food committee, discussions continued over several years as to what are the key issues that

Emory would want every consumer to understand around sustainable food. The group crystalized the

following seven issues:

• The value of eating foods seasonally, both economic and environmental.

• The social justice issues embedded in food—farm worker pay and working conditions as well

as rural community impacts of conventionally-grown versus local and sustainable food.

• The hidden energy embedded in food and climate implications of food choices.

• The value of sustainable seafood choices.

• The value of Fair Trade choices.

• The value of grassfed meat and dairy choices.

• The importance of waste reduction.

The first of these messages—eating seasonally—was developed into some educational materials and a

new logo and rolled out by Bon Appétit in the 2016-7 academic year. Signage in the new dining

facility is planned to expand awareness of seasonal food—and to help educate around the other issues

as well.

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Oxford Organic Farm

From the earliest meetings of the Sustainable Food Committee, there were discussions about how to

create an Oxford organic farm. Various parcels were discussed, and conversations with local organic

farmers helped to frame the feasibility of the project. The idea of the farm was not only to help Emory

at Oxford students understand the origins of food and gain experience with hands-on farming skills,

but also to support the expansion of sustainably-grown food in the wider metro Atlanta area.

Educational opportunities for farm interns and full-time farm apprentices were part of this vision to

meet the growing consumer demand by growing growers, as well as expanding the reasons why

students might want to come to Oxford.

In Fall of 2014, this long-term goal was brought to reality by Dean Steve Bowen, with the hard work

of Professor Mike McQuaide and other faculty and administrators. Emory alumnus Trulock Dickson

purchased the farm property from beloved Oxford figures Marshall and Fran Elizer and then donated it

to the college. The parcel included more than eleven acres near the Oxford campus, including a house

and sheds. A national search led to the selection of Daniel Parson, an award-winning farmer, as the

first farmer-educator. Under Parson’s leadership, equipment was purchased, a well was dug, an

irrigation system established, and a large barn for cleaning produce as well as equipment storage was

constructed. When fully established, the farm will contain small orchards as well as space to grow a

variety of vegetables and cut flowers. Shitake mushrooms and many vegetables are already being

produced. The farm earns income through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, which

sells produce to the local community, as well as through sales to the Oxford dining hall and sales at the

weekly Emory Farmers Market.

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Oxford farmer Daniel Parson talks with Chef Duke Roadside sign near the Oxford campus

The farm serves as more than a source of produce, however; it is also a living laboratory. Under the

mentorship of Parson and in collaboration with over a dozen faculty, students can get hands-on

experience in sustainable agricultural techniques as well as other research projects, such as studies of

soil microbes or insect co-evolution. He envisions incorporating the farm into many different types of

coursework at Oxford.

New Goals, New Opportunities

Marking a decade in existence, in 2016 the Emory Sustainable Food Committee formalized a vision

and mission for itself, recognizing that many of its initial charges—to establish a farmers market,

create educational garden plots on campus, support the Oxford farm, and develop guidelines for

sustainable food purchasing—were now complete.

Vision: A comprehensive campus and healthcare food system that promotes a healthy

Emory, healthy Georgia communities, and a healthy planet.

Mission: Bringing together expertise from Emory University, Emory Dining, and

Emory Healthcare, the Sustainable Food Committee supports a food system that is

both locally-grown and sustainably-grown through food procurement policies, the

Emory Farmers Market, the Educational Garden Project, the Oxford Organic

Farm, and coordinated educational efforts for all participants in the Emory

community. (Sustainable Food Committee minutes 11-17-16).

Dave Furhman reflected on his experience with the food committee:

Every campus dining program has committees that help to guide the program.

They’re usually student driven and they’re usually about food preferences—“can

we have Cap’n Crunch,” etc. No other campus that I know really well has a body

36

of experts who drive the conversation and will decide the type of food served on

the campus. To have an anthropologist, dietician, graduate students—a rich and

diverse group—completely committed to making the right decision while at the

same time, being practical and realistic—it’s very unusual. And then we [Emory

Dining] have to deliver…. (Furhman 2017).

These words highlighted how the history of sustainable food at Emory has become a committed

partnership between the academic side of the university and its food providers. As Furhman pointed

out, “In the end, we are still feeding thousands of people a day at fifteen different locations—and over

the course of an entire year, with only a few days closed” (Furhman 2017). And despite those logistical

challenges, in a state without the rich resources for local and sustainable food found in some parts of

the United States, the university has been able to purchase over one third of its food from sustainable

or local sources, and its hospitals have reached the 10% mark. These are the measures of a decade of

hard work, and they testify to the strong support for the initiative from many levels of senior

administration throughout the university and healthcare.

Yet challenges remain to build a truly sustainable food system for the university employees, students,

patients, and visitors. The new sustainability strategic planning Vision Report for the next decade

affirms the following goals:

A reiteration of the goal for Emory Dining of 75% food purchases that are either sustainably or

locally grown by 2025

A new goal for Emory Healthcare of 25% food purchases that are either sustainably or locally

grown by 2025

A continuation of the practice of creating and updating tracking systems for purchases for both

the university and healthcare and revising purchasing guidelines every three years or as needed

(Emory Visioning Committee 2016).

And at the heart of the undergraduate experience, Emory’s new Campus Life Center offers important

new opportunities to meet these goals. It will include expanded kitchen prep areas, demo kitchens, and

new, more congenial dining spaces. Furhman has worked hard on the Campus Life Center because

A great institution with the stature of Emory deserves a great dining service. I

always remember what I learned before coming here, that the center of any

campus—whether it’s the quad or the student center—is an expression of an

institution’s sentiments for its community. The new CLC provides us incredible

opportunities for building and supporting that community. I’m really excited

about what it can do for Emory (Furhman 2017).

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References Cited

Balotin, Lauren. 2017 Sustainable Healthcare at Emory. Unpublished Report.

Barlett, Peggy F. 2017 Campus Alternative Food Projects and Food Service Realities: Alternative

Strategies. Human Organization 76(3).

Emory Visioning Committee. 2016 Sustainability Strategic Vision Report. April 19.

http://sustainability.emory.edu/uploads/press/2016/04/2016041911364127/VisionReport4-19-16.pdf.

Accessed 5-1-17.

Furhman, Dave. 2017 Interview, 5-4-17.

Healthcare without Harm. 2017. Healthy Food in Healthcare Pledge. https://noharm-

uscanada.org/issues/us-canada/healthy-food-health-care-pledge. Accessed 5-1-17.

Fernandez, Maria. 2016 Better Choice initiative makes it easier for employees to make healthy food

decisions. Emory Report, May 31.

Holt-Gimenez, Eric, 2006. Preface from Campesino a Campesino: Voices from Latin America’s

Farmer to Farmer Movement for Sustainable Agriculture. Oakland, CA: Food First.

Muratore, Simona. 2017 Interview by email, 5-3-17.

Spicer, Taylor. 2017 Interview 5-2-17.

Subcommittee on Sustainability Summit on Food. 2008. Summary Report: Faculty/Staff Survey and

Consultations, Sustainability Summit on Food – Spring, 2008. Unpublished report, 12-18-08.

Sustainability Committee. 2006 Sustainability Vision for Emory. Report revised 8-10-06.

sustainability.emory.edu/uploads/press/2012/03/2012031411311814/Emory_Sustainability_Vision.pdf

- 36k - 2012-03-14. Accessed 5-1-17.

Sustainable Food Committee. 2011. Sustainability Guidelines for Food Service Purchasing. Revised

March 29.

Sustainable Food Committee. 2013. Sustainability Guidelines for Food Service Purchasing. Revised

May 1.

Sustainable Food Committee. 2016. Sustainability Guidelines for Food Service Purchasing. May 22.

http://sustainability.emory.edu/uploads/articles/2016/08/2016082906292641/SustFoodPurchGuidelns4

-21-16.pdf. Accessed 5-1-17.

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1 Members of the founding committee were: Peggy Barlett (Anthropology, Chair), Stacy Bell (Oxford, English), Bryce Carlson (Anthropology, graduate student), Christy Cook (Emory Dining/Sodexho), Addie Davis (College, undergraduate), William Eley (Medicine), Christa Essig (Public Health, graduate student), Karen Mumford (Public Health), Carol Newsom (Theology), Daphne Norton (Chemistry), Patty Erbach (Food Service Liaison), Lynne Ometer (Food Services, Emory Hospital, ex officio). 2 The Sustainable Summit on Food was sponsored by the Student Government Association, the Office of Sustainability Initiatives, and the Ethics Center. Speakers included Alice Rolls from Georgia Organics, Daniel Parson of Gaia Gardens, Dean of the College Robert Paul, Vice President for Campus Life John Ford, Campus Dining Director Patty Ziegenhorn-Erbach, and Joe Mitchell and Christy Cook of Campus Dining. The Summit sub-committee included faculty members Peggy Barlett, Stacy Bell, and Daphne Norton, Campus Dining sustainability coordinator Christy Cook, undergraduate students Emily Cumbie-Drake, Addie Davis, Nicki Milgrom, and Kate Shamsuddin, graduate students Vaughn Schmutz and Courtney Tucker, and Ethics Center staff members Paul Ficklin-Alred and Kathy Kinlaw. 3 Green Bean managers, their academic backgrounds, and some post-graduation activities:

Past Managers Major Post-graduation activities Sally Mengel Anthropology; Global Health, Culture

& Society minor Founded Loblolly Creamery, Little Rock, AK

Addie Davis Anthropology Medical School Emily Cumbie-Drake

Anthropology Program Coordinator, Emory Office of Sustainability; Farm to School Director, Georgia Organics

Chelsea Duttweiler International Studies/Journalism Law School, U Pennsylvania Lauren Ladov Philosophy/Film & Media Studies FoodCorps; Community Farmers Market Manager Brian Goodman Economics Sonam Vashi Political Science/Journalism CNN Researcher Cassandra Gonzales Sociology; Sustainability Minor Levi Lyman-Barner Political Science

4 Emory University Dining Contract Request for Proposals, Fall 2014, and Progress as of Fall, 2015.

Category Required elements for residential

dining, non-branded retail, and

Emory Catering

Options for

innovation

Successes and Challenges for

Contractor (as of 6/2015)

Milk and

dairy

All local [8 Southern states, with GA

preference] and free of routine

administration of hormones or

antibiotics.

Grass fed;

organic

Some items from local sources

provided, not all items available at

present.

Eggs All certified humane (not American

Humane Raised)

Pastured Contractor standard is for shell eggs

Certified Humane® by Humane

Farm Animal Care. Goal is Cage-free

Certified Humane® (Humane Farm

Animal Care) for liquid eggs by

12/15.

Vegetables

and fruits

Preference for locally-sourced items,

Fair Food certified items, and CIW

tomatoes; honor Atlanta Lettuce

Project commitments*

Increase

seasonal

choices, Fair

Food certified,

organic

Fair Food (Coalition of Immokalee

Workers) tomatoes occasionally

provided; no other Fair Food crops

yet certified.

39

Chicken Springer Mountain Farms or

University-approved equivalent (raised

without routine antibiotics; no battery

cages).

Pastured

poultry

Contractor standard is chicken raised

without routine “non-therapeutic”

antibiotics in feed or water. Mid-

sized regional producers must have

certification from either Animal

Welfare Approved, Food Alliance,

Humane Farm Animal Care, or

Global Animal Partnership.

Beef All ground beef grass fed. All other beef

cuts grass fed

Grass-fed ground beef provided from

GA farm that meets Mid-Sized

Humane criteria.

Pork and

other meats

Raised without gestation crates Pasture-raised pork, without

gestation crates, provided from local

GA farm, but processed meats that

meet goals are not yet available.

Seafood Monterrey Bay Seafood Watch (“good”

or “best”) or Marine Stewardship

Council certified; no seafood from

Asian countries.

Prioritize GA

seafood.

Contractor standard is Seafood

Watch sustainability guidelines; non-

Asian sources provided.

Grocery All coffee and tea

Fair Trade

Fair trade coffee and tea provided for

all locations except Starbucks.

Other All meals trans-fat free. Maintain data

tracking systems for transparency.

Work with

emerging food

hub, sustainable

food groups.

Increase whole

grain, Fair

Trade, and

gluten free

options

* Emory University has a partnership with the planned Atlanta Lettuce Works, a community based wealth building

initiative for underserved parts of the community.